In the Heat
by quinnovative
Summary: Based on this prompt: Kara loses her powers and somehow gets the Argo Fever / Supercorp in the first chapter, with a focus on Kara & Alex in the second chapter
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Some important stuff to know: Lena knows Kara's Supergirl and supercorp is established.

This is based on a prompt I received about Kara getting Argo Fever.

* * *

Kara swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the examination table in the DEO med wing. The air whooshed between her boots, creating a low whistle. "Can I go now?"

Her heels thudded lightly against the metal base of the table.

"There's still an hour or so on some of the test results, Kar. How about you get under the sunlamps while you wait?"

Kara groaned. "Come on, Alex. The sunlamps are so uncomfortable, and I hate being alone in there."

"Well until I get all your tests back, I can't let you go. J'onn and I agree. Your powers are on the fritz right now—we've never seen them in this gray area before and we need to keep record of what's going on."

"How about I go to the artifact room and see what we recovered today? I think some are Kryptonian, I want to take a look. I could help."

Alex huffed, stepping out from behind the computer screen relaying Kara's test results as the data came back. Eager to get the clanging of Kara's boots out of her head, Alex finally blew out a breath. "Go ahead, but come back in forty-five minutes, all right? I'm not messing around. I want to go home just as much as you do."

Kara nodded, beaming as she slid off the table. "Thanks, Alex!"

"Yeah, mhmm. Forty-five minutes." She looked up from her tablet toward Kara, yelling at her retreating figure. "And I'm still not decided on the sunlamps yet, okay?"

"Okay!" Kara called from the hall, her voice traveling through the door. Alex found it's sudden tone nauseatingly cheerful. She rolled her eyes and went back to the computer, frustrated that Kara had put her life in danger again and then continued skip around as if nothing had happened.

/

Alex swung open the door to the artifact room where the new technology was being categorized and added to the DEO inventory.

"Supergirl!" She yelled and her voice echoed off the tall metal walls. A sole scientist worked at the front desk, proofing information as it was added to the database.

"Have you seen her?" Alex asked, approaching the desk.

"Uh, Supergirl? Yeah, she came in here, I don't know…" he glanced at his watch, "…an hour ago. She's back in the lab where they're looking at the stuff from today's mission—whatever was found in the ship after the fight."

Alex nodded, murmuring out her thanks, and made her way through the long aisles of metal boxes and reinforced crates before she reached the lab. "Kara, seriously?! We made an agreement that you'd be back in time."

The blonde turned toward her, lips down turned and eyes glistening in a way that told Alex she wasn't crying yet but might be soon, if pushed too far.

The brunette took a deep breath that shook through her lungs and steadied her voice. "Listen, I was expecting you back a while ago. What happened?"

Kara only spared a glance in her direction before looking back at the writings in her hand and a handful of steel devices.

Alex swallowed her frustration, pressing her foot harder against the ground. Her shoe squeaked, and she stepped off it, resettling her stance. "Kara?" she forced her voice softer and stepped closer, papers spread before Kara fluttering at the movement. "What's that? Is it Kryptonian?"

Kara nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, it's, um it's from Argo City. I think it belonged to one of my father's friends, he was a doctor. It has his initials. At least, I think they are." She squeezed her eyes shut. "The details get fuzzy, I can't be sure of his first name. I don't… I don't even know if I knew it in the first place."

Alex nodded, walking until she was beside Kara and leaving the silence open for Kara to fill. The blonde ran her fingers along the metal, feeling its coolness prickle her fingertips. "He was a good family friend and a good doctor, he worked tirelessly to cure diseases. These were some of the medical instruments he used."

"What do they do?"

"I'm not—I don't know exactly anymore. I can't remember much about being sick on Krypton, just my mom taking care of me and my father always trying to make me laugh when I didn't feel well." A weighted smile turned the corner of Kara's lips and she looked down at her hands, fingers entangled. She sucked in a deep breath, looking back at Alex, and seemed to jolt up a bit, words spilling as she spoke again. "There was, um, some other stuff, too, that you guys found while I was getting my ass kicked," Kara said, lifting a box from the ground and settling it on the table. "Books from one of the schools just outside Argo, a piece of a vase, some test tubes. Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't come back on time I got wrapped up in all this but it's just… it's just stuff."

Alex shook her head. "You know what, it's okay. Your tests didn't reveal much, to be honest. There weren't any surprises. Other than the whole powers situation you seem okay, so we're just going to put you on observation for a little while. Your cells aren't metabolizing sunlight like they normally do."

"So no sunlamps?" Kara looked up.

"Not tonight," Alex said, wrapping an arm around Kara. "They wouldn't do anything now anyway, but maybe later. I say we call it a night. Then you can go get your apartment ready for that girl of yours. She comes back tomorrow, right?"

In a millisecond, Kara's wary features were beaming. "Yes!"

"Good." Alex smiled and pulled Kara to her feet. "And Kara?"

The blonde looked over as they walked.

"It's more than stuff in those boxes. You don't have to downplay it."

Kara smiled and gathered her hair, pulling it onto one shoulder. "I'll see you later, Alex."

"Let me know if anything changes, okay? You're not a hundred percent in the clear just yet."

"Got it," Kara said, turning down the hall toward the large window in the center of the base. She moved toward the balcony and light from the setting sun glimmered off the gold of her suit.

"Kara," Alex called from the bottom of the stairs. "You're seriously not about to try flying right now, are you? We just talked about your powers not functioning correctly."

Kara paused, back toward Alex before turning around slowly. "I forgot." Chin tucked toward her face and guilty smirk rising against her flushed skin. "Give me a ride?"

Alex rolled her eyes and tilted her head in the direction of the parking garage. "Let's go."

/

"You're home!" Kara cried, grin breaking across her face the next evening. "Oh, I missed you so much."

She threw her arms around Lena and pulled her close. With Kara's elbows bent around Lena's shoulders, they swayed slightly—the force of Kara's hug sending them rocking.

Balancing on her tiptoes, a laugh bubbled from Lena's lips and she turned her head to kiss Kara's cheek. "I missed you, too, darling."

"Are you hungry?" Kara asked. She pulled back to look Lena in the eyes. "I really wanted to cook something for you—I bought the ingredients and everything yesterday—but work ran late and I was just so tired for some reason, I accidentally fell asleep when I was reading the recipe. So we could maybe just order in?" A sheepish smile curled across her cheeks. "Would that be fine?"

Lena laughed again and wrapped Kara's gesticulating fingers in her own. "Anything is more than fine." Her amused expression softened as she continued. "How are you feeling after everything that happened the other day? I didn't get much in the way of details when we spoke on the phone."

"Oh." Kara dropped Lena's gaze for a moment and licked her lip, shifting her weight. "I'm—I'm okay—just a little tired. The intermittent powers thing is weird and new and frustrating."

"I can't even imagine." Lena nodded and took in Kara's gaze, turned down toward her feet. Her baby blue polka dotted socks contrasted the hardwood floor. "Is there anything else?"

Kara shrugged and exhaled. The breath stuttered out and the blonde rubbed her forehead. "The worst…" she took another deep breath. "The worst part is how much it has me thinking about Krypton. I learned early on that it's easy for me to fall off the cliff and get…" Kara swirled her fingers in the air. "…trapped in it all, I guess. I just—I don't really want to talk about it right now, maybe later," Kara admitted, feeling guilt surge inside her at the lost culture she couldn't reclaim.

Lena nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry, Kar." Lena drew Kara into another hug and rubbed her back. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

"Having you here is already helping," Kara said, nuzzling into Lena's neck. Her lashes fluttered against Lena's skin, tickling as she pressed closer. A few moments passed in quiet with the two fitted together and their breaths falling in sync.

Then Lena felt Kara smirk against her neck before she lifted her head. "And maybe snuggling and then some, ya know, other stuff. Later." Kara looked up, brows raised and eyes bright as she waited for Lena's response.

"Other stuff, huh?" Lena teased. She leaned so their foreheads were touching. "I thought you were tired, babe. And as much as I love doing 'other stuff' with you," she winked and continued, "you seem exhausted. I want you to rest if you need it."

Kara shook her head, blonde curls flopping against Lena's shoulder. "Never too tired."

"All right, well how about you settle on the couch for now and I'll call in our takeout order and then join you? Put on something to watch while we wait."

"I know you're only trying to see if I'll fall asleep, but I'm going to agree just to prove that I'm not too tired."

"Mhmmm." Lena hummed, nodding as she held Kara's gaze.

"Watch and see," Kara said, turning to make her way to the couch. "Let me take your luggage before I sit down."

Kara grabbed the suitcase and lugged it upward, dropping it instantly. The wheels crashed against the floor before the whole thing tipped over with a resounding thump. It landed on its side in front of the blonde's feet.

"Kara!" Lena exclaimed, laughing. "What the hell was that?"

"That's—" Kara pointed at the suitcase and balked. "Heavy!"

Lena rolled her eyes. "Welcome to the human world, Kara. I'll take care of this." She nodded toward the bag then put her arms on Kara's shoulders and turned her to face the living room. "You go rest on the couch."

"I'm not going to fall asleep!"

"I didn't say you were," Lena laughed, pulling a blanket from the back of the couch and tossing it at Kara as she passed.

"See you in a few. Wide awake," Kara smiled cheekily then ducked her head to suppress a yawn.

Lena eyed her carefully with a grin before disappearing. In the bedroom, she left her suitcase on the floor at the foot of the bed.

She unzipped it to start putting things away, but after hanging up her blazer she flipped the cover closed with her toe instead and changed into pajamas, deciding that unpacking could wait for tomorrow.

She took out her phone, ordering a human-sized amount of food for once and pulling her hair from her ponytail while she talked. Then she washed her face in the bathroom, clearing it of makeup and replacing contacts with wide rim glasses.

When she returned to the living room, Kara was curled on the couch, her own glasses askew on her nose, chest rising and falling slowly.

Lena plopped on the cushion beside her.

"Still awake," Kara murmured.

"Not for long."

Kara grunted in response, eyes closed.

"Come 'ere," Lena whispered, pulling Kara's limp body against her own and wrapping Kara's frame in her arms. She carded her fingers through the blonde's hair as they settled into the couch.

With her free hand, Lena stretch to grab another blanket, spreading it across both their laps.

Kara curled closer. "I love you, Lena."

"I love you, too, Kara. So so much."

"I'm glad you're home." Kara melted into Lena's side as her fingers ran over the reporter, soft and slow and warm.

"Me too." Lena kissed Kara's head. "Now sleep a little. I'm here."

Kara nodded, hair mussed against Lena's shoulder and closed her eyes.

/

The next morning, Kara slept through three alarms without so much as a murmur or jolt in her sleep. It was only when Lena resorted to shaking her shoulder, with an almost concerning amount of force, that Kara's eyes opened. Her body shot up and her gaze darted around the room before landing on Lena.

"Hey." Lena said quietly, moving the hand rubbing Kara's shoulder upward to cup her flushed cheek.

"Hi," Kara breathed out, chest deflating.

"Sorry to startle you like that you just—well, you weren't waking up," Lena bit her bottom lip. "I was getting worried."

Kara shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment as she pressed her forehead with the heel of her hand. "It's okay. I had a dream about Krypton and I'm just tired." She nodded and rubbed her eyes with loose fists. "That's all. Just tired." Her eyes drifted to her phone. "Shit! I'm going to be late."

"Hey, take it easy," Lena said, catching Kara's wrist when she jumped out of bed. She shook in her pajama pants, floor cold beneath her bare feet. "I got everything in order for you. You just need to get dressed and run a brush through that hair of yours, okay?" Lena smiled, easing the rapid pace of Kara's heart. "Take a deep breath, babe. You're still good on time."

"Thank you," Kara exhaled. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm just so tired, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Lena rose from the bed and kissed Kara's cheek. "I've got to head off for work myself but let me know if you need anything."

Kara nodded, running her fingers over the comforter as she watched Lena leave, feeling the absence as a cold pang in her chest. "I love you," she called.

Lena paused in the doorway and turned around. "Love you, too."

Kara's lips turned up into a smile.

/

Lena set down her recipe for dinner before settling on the couch and pulling the novel she'd been reading off the coffee table. She opened to the page she'd left off on, finishing a single line before a thud at the door drew her attention.

She looked over as another thump rattled the frame. The nob was jostled, a scratching sound accompanied the wheeze of a strained breath.

Lena's features scrunched, brows pulling together as she returned her book to the table and stood up.

Her finger hovered over Kara's speed dial on her cell, knowing Kara would get there faster than the police ever could, as she approached the door.

Her bare feet padded across the wood and came to a halt. Lena jumped as something clambered at the other side, muscles seizing and mouth dry.

When she gazed through the peep hole her heart lurched up to her throat, fingers shaking in their haste to pull open the door. The knob was cool in her hand as she gripped at it, pulled harder and harder until the twisting gave way in coordination with the turn of the lock and she yanked it open.

The hinges groaned as the door swung open and Kara stumbled inside. Tears streaked her cheeks and a trembling hand grasped at her chest as the other grappled for something to hold.

Lena swooped beneath Kara's tipping form.

Finding purchase in the warm forearm beneath her own, Kara gripped Lena's arm with her free hand. The sloppy distribution of weight caused Lena to wobble. She took Kara's elbow with her other hand, steadying the blonde in front of her enough to look at her, eye-to-eye, but Kara's gaze shot around the room.

With her foot, Lena pushed the door closed, still using both hands to keep Kara upright.

"Kara?"

The blonde whimpered, the hand on her chest fisted her shirt and the fabric stretched, threads tugging.

Fingertips dug into flesh. Pale impressions against warm skin.

Their pinkish hue visible through the thinning fabric.

She bent over, hands dropping to her knees as she wheezed.

Lena eased her upward, taking both hands in her own. "Kara, sweetheart, can you follow me? It'll just be a second. I need you to stay upright." Lena walked backwards, pausing between each stride. Kara's legs followed the movement, knees buckling and knocking but keeping her upright like pliant branches in a storm. "Just a few steps to the couch. There you go, sit down."

Kara collapsed onto the cushion, swallowed by the furniture as she trembled.

"Are you hurt? Did something happen?" Lena asked, her words measured and her voice low.

Her gaze trailed over Kara, swept for visible injuries, and was pulled back upward by Kara's watery bellow of "no," palm still digging into her chest. "Nothing l—li—like that."

"Okay." Lena put an end to the blonde's ragged explanation. "It's okay. I understand."

Lena placed a hand on Kara's leg, a warm presence, and brushed the area with her thumb. "You're okay, Kara, you're okay." The rug pressed into Lena's knees as she knelt in front of her girlfriend. "I'm right here, riding this out with you... You're not alone; I've got you."

"S'rry. 'm s'rry," she murmured, words chopped between her gasps for breath and outpour of tears.

"There's no need to be sorry," Lena responded, continuing to seek out Kara's blue eyes.

When they finally met, Kara studied her face through red, puffy lids. She blinked, eyelashes sticky with tears, then took Lena's hand. The blonde's fingers shook with the aftershocks of adrenaline seeping through her system, quivering in Lena's palm.

Kara gave a weak squeeze of her fingers.

Lena rose with open arms and Kara tilted into her side, diaphragm still heaving. Her cheek was warm through the fabric of Lena's button-down shirt, still pressed and tucked from her day in the office.

"Oh, Kara, it's okay." Lena said softly, brushing hair back from Kara's face and twisting to sit beside the woman without letting go.

"Panic attack in the elevator. Everything felt tight, couldn't breathe." Kara gave in explanation after a few moments, through a rough voice and short breath. Lena reached up and thumbed away her girlfriend's tears. "Don't know why." She looked down and shook her head as a hiccup sent her shoulders jolting again, breaths still clipped. "I felt it coming on all day, just didn't think it was actually gon—gonna happen. My powers are completely gone now." Kara shook her head. "It was stupid. I was stupid." The end of each sentence was heavy, unbalanced by the weight of her own frustrations.

"Hey, hey, hey no." Lena guided Kara's chin, so she was looking into Kara's tear stained eyes. "That's not true."

Kara wiped her eyes and pulled in a steadier breath. "I hate when this happens."

"I know." Lena nodded, rubbing a spread hand up and down Kara's back, soothing her body and easing it down from the state of panic. "But it's over now, you're through it."

Kara nodded this time, slumping into Lena's hold and dropping her head onto the woman's shoulder.

"Oh, babe." Lena's face scrunched in thought. She looked down at Kara's damp skin and flushed cheeks. "You're really warm."

"Run warm." Kara muttered into Lena's neck. "Y'know that."

Lena shook her head and smoothed Kara's hair. "This is different than Supergirl warm," she said. "It's human warm. Should I call Alex?"

"No," Kara moaned. With her eyes still half-lidded and her cheeks red, she pushed away, palm damp and spread against Lena's collarbone. Her legs wavered, toes tripping over each other as she tried to stand, one hand relying on Lena's shoulder for support and the other still working to get away.

"Okay okay, Kara, sit down." Lena watched as the blonde swayed. "I won't call Alex if you don't want me to."

"Okay… thank you… Sorry." Kara rubbed at her face, eyes pinching at the headache pounding across her forehead. "I'm not thinking straight, sorry. I'm just worked up from all that." She gestured toward the front door, thinking about the elevator and its handrails that jutted into her back when she'd pressed against the walls, and the grating of its cables in her ears, and the fluorescent lights, and sharp corners, and lack of space. "And I don't want to bother Alex right now. I'm not in the mood for more pointless tests."

Kara dropped onto the couch beside Lena, shaking, repeating herself. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Lena held out an arm and Kara sunk back into the touch. "I'm going to get you some water and make some tea, and then we can just relax for a little." Lena stood and moved the TV remote from the coffee table to the space beside Kara's knee.

Lena returned a few minutes later to Julie Andrews frolicking through green hills, belting the opening lines to _The Sound of Music._ A soft smile pulled at Lena's cheeks and she couldn't help giving Kara's shoulder a squeeze on her way around the back of the couch.

She placed a glass of water on the small table beside Kara and offered tea, only pulling Kara's gaze away from the screen when the mug was in the center of her vision.

"Oh," Kara breathed, turning her head toward Lena. "Thank you."

She curled her hands around the warm ceramic and held it close to her chest against her sternum. The steam whirled in tendrils, moisture pervading against her skin. A deep breath finally dislodged the mass of residual worry clanging inside her chest.

"My pleasure," Lena assured her. She sat down and pressed a kiss to Kara's temple. The warmth of her lips lingered even as Lena pulled back, smiling at Kara.

Two syncopated thumps echoed off the hardwood floor as Kara toed off her left, then right, shoe. She shifted upward on the couch, shuffling into Lena's side and pulling her knees up to her chest.

Kara tucked her feet, clad in teal socks dotted with pastel donuts, under Lena's thigh; turning, so her head fell against the CEO's shoulder.

Lena put an arm around Kara and drew her closer.

Using one hand, Lena could count the number of panic attacks she's accompanied Kara through in person. There have been a few more she'd only found out about after the ordeal; an additional two she'd talked Kara through over the phone; and one occasion where'd she'd done it via text.

Each time, Lena amended the list in her head of how to help Kara best in the aftermath. A running formula for Kara's comfort.

The musical finished, and Kara's breathing had steadied, her eyes were still open. Her body a warm weight against her girlfriend's legs. The rolling credits filled the screen and Kara looked up from Lena's lap, where the woman was smoothing back blonde hair, to catch her eyes.

"I know we usually go for a walk now, but that means taking the elevator again, unless you want to walk down twenty-one flights of stairs."

Kara shook her head, blonde hair spreading on Lena's pencil skirt. "Not the stairs. If I avoid the elevator now it'll just get worse later."

"You'll be okay if we take it?"

Kara nodded and sat up. "With you."

/

They changed out of their work clothes and left the apartment, riding the elevator hand in hand.

Lena could hear Kara's breath hitch with the small jolt of movement as the elevator began its descent. The Luthor spoke continually, voice low and near, about work, about the weekend that was still three days away, about summer plans they should start organizing soon. Maybe a getaway to a cabin on a lake up in the mountains, or a beach house on the coast, or a flight to Italy or Spain or Ireland.

Lena was just excited to make up for all the sick days she'd spent trudging through work, all the scheduled-in vacation time that she'd replaced with business trips and meetings. She finally had people worth stopping for.

When the elevator doors parted, Kara kept her fingers entwined with Lena's, through the lobby and out onto the street.

The CEO didn't do anything other than squeeze them back and tell Kara that she was proud of her, before letting the conversation fall back to vacation and CatCo and the DEO, this time with Kara giving input.

They made it seven blocks shorter than usual, turning back at the entryway to the closest park. Beyond the ornate gateway, a pair of runners dipped around a corner into a patch of woods; to the left, a Labrador bounded through the grass, chasing after a tennis ball in the dog park; on the other side of the fence kids hung from monkey bars the color of firetrucks.

"Keep going?" Kara asked, pausing and looking at Lena.

"It's up to you, babe. How are you feeling?"

Kara's bloodshot eyes and increasing weight as she leaned against the other woman and decreasing contributions to the conversation gave Lena the answer to her question, but still she waited for Kara's decision.

She shrugged.

The sun was setting, and she was shivering.

Goosebumps prickled her skin.

"Whatever you want."

Lena took in Kara's trembling frame one more time before letting go of her hand and pulling Kara against her side. She let her fingers graze up and down the curve of Kara's ribcage as they walked, touch featherlight but impact heavy. "Let's go home. We've still got dinner to eat, anyway."

She tried not to be worried by Kara's lack of response.

/

It was just past eight when Kara stopped eating, barely a quarter of the way through her food, and started pushing it around instead.

Lena forced her concerned gaze over to the TV, where the news was playing in the background. Then she turned to Kara again and continued upholding the nearly one-way conversation.

She feigned nonchalance for another five minutes, but then Kara made another attempt to force down one more piece of pasta and her eyes were nearly closed from exhaustion and her lips were just millimeters away from a wince and Lena couldn't help the chuckle that she breathed out or the way her fingers hovered to help.

"Kara, babe, it's okay."

She stopped Kara's hand with her own, lowering the fork to Kara's plate.

"Huh?" Kara blinked. A heavy thing that almost kept her eyes sealed.

"You're exhausted and you're not hungry. It's okay, I just want you to be comfortable."

Kara's cheeks flushed pink and she blinked again, revealing a sliver more of her glassy eyes. "Sorry, it's not that I don't like it. I do… it's great! I just—I'm not… I'm not really hungry."

"I know." Lena ran a hand over Kara's back. "I'll take care of this," she said, nodding toward their plates and glasses. "You go hop in bed."

"Thank you," Kara said with a nod that was barely a bob of her chin. She got up and her fingers tightened around the counter, she froze in place, muscle held tight for a moment before she eased her eyes open again, squinting in the dim light. A sigh of a relief fell from her lips, the room had stopped spinning enough that she could pull her hand away from the granite.

"You okay?"

Lena's hand lingered at her elbow.

"Yeah." Kara took a deep breath. "I've just had a headache all day and I think it's getting a little worse."

Lena hummed softly and threaded her fingers through Kara's hair. "I'll get you medicine and some water, okay? You just get changed and lie down. Sound good?"

Kara nodded. "You'll um… you'll come in in a little bit?"

"I've got a call with foreign investors at nine, they're flying in to talk in person tomorrow, but after that, I'm all yours," Lena promised. "Now go," she tilted her head to the bedroom. "You're falling asleep on your feet."

/

In all of Lena's experiences with Kara after a panic attack, the blonde was always so exhausted that she was passed out before nine-thirty. Sometimes Lena found her earlier, sprawled across the couch cushions and snoring lightly, or knocked out curled up in the chair by the window she liked to read in or, once, asleep at the kitchen counter with her laptop still open and her glasses crooked on her face.

So, when Lena emerged from the office at nearly eleven, she tiptoed through the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and some more medicine for Kara when she woke, before easing the bedroom door open and slipping inside.

The room was lit by yellow light from the lamp on the nightstand, at Kara's side of the bed. Instead of having fallen asleep reading or writing, as Lena had expected, Kara was awake. She was curled on her side, blinking at the wall.

Her fingers ran along the edge of the blanket she was under.

"Lena?" Kara said, voice hoarse. Her body lurched with a sneeze as she sat up and curled her legs in front of her.

Lena placed the water and medicine on the nightstand.

"It's me," she soothed, giving Kara's thigh a squeeze as she passed, on her way to the dresser.

"What are you still doing up?" Lena asked as she swapped her button down for an oversized college shirt. "Did I wake you?"

Kara shook her head and pulled the sheets back into her lap. The white fabric gathered at her waist and fell in crumpled waves around her side. She tugged it a little harder, balling the sheet in her fist and holding it to her chest.

"Everything okay?" Lena slipped on navy sleep shorts with white stripes.

Kara nodded with a long blink, her gaze rested heavily on Lena. Following as she disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"You don't look good, Kar," Lena said when she crawled under the sheets after finishing her nighttime routine. She stretched to plug her phone into its charger. "How's your head?"

Kara murmured and attached herself to Lena's side.

"What was that, darling?" Lena turned, letting one arm settle around Kara's back, her hand resting at Kara's hip.

"Still hurts. I can't sleep," she muttered into Lena's abdomen and moved to hide her face there. Her lips tickled Lena's side, the sensation prickling through the fabric of her t-shirt. "But 'm so tired."

"Do you want tea?" Lena offered, already propping herself up on one arm, prepared to get out of bed.

Kara shook her head and wrapped an arm around Lena's waist.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Jus' stay 'ere. Having you close always helps."

Lena pressed a kiss to Kara's head. "I'll stay up a little and go through some emails, okay? I won't lie down all the way until I know you're asleep."

"You don't have t' do that. I know you have stuff to do in the morning. You need sleep, too."

"I don't mind." Lena stroked Kara's hair, knew that sometimes having someone awake beside her helped Kara fall asleep—alleviated the pressure to drift off quickly before she was left lying awake by herself, ruminating alone and getting trapped in her thoughts.

Here, she had Lena's hand in her hair, at her side. She had Lena's diaphragm rising and falling like the tide beneath the weight of Kara's arm. The scent of Lena, lingering expensive perfume and coffee surrounding Kara each time she breathed.

Here, she had Lena. And with Lena, Kara could close her eyes.

/

The night dragged on, with Kara twisting beside Lena, flopping from one side to the other, eyes opening every few minutes.

She blinked her eyes open again after another fifteen minutes of changing position to no avail. Her gaze settled on Lena, following her hands as they typed out email responses. Her fingers worked in perfect sync, hesitating only when her head needed time to catch up or she paused to proofread a response. Lip between her teeth and eyes scanning the message's text.

Kara watched as she replied through three, four, five more emails until Lena looked down after pressing send, catching Kara's eye.

"What're you doing?" The CEO asked with a little smile raising her cheeks. She removed a hand from the keyboard in favor of smoothing back Kara's hair instead.

Kara shrugged and raised her head off the pillow only to drop it right beside Lena again. "Just watching you."

"Still can't sleep?"

Kara shook her head. "I'm sorry. You don't have to stay up."

Lena waved a dismissive hand. "Watching me type emails is pretty boring, I'm sure."

Kara shrugged again. "I don't mind. I just like being close."

"And I like having you close," Lena assured her. She closed the email tab on her computer. "But I think we can do better on the entertainment front." She opened Netflix and looked at Kara. "What do you want?"

"Pick one of your documentaries."

Lena raised her brow. " _Really?"_

Kara nodded, a wry grin curving across her face and adding some light to her paled features. The glimmer emerging from the fog of her eyes had Lena eagerly awaiting whatever remark was about to jump forth from Kara's lips.

"They always put me to sleep."

Lena scoffed and rolled her eyes to suppress her smirk. "Oh, well aren't you just brilliant."

"I like to think so." Kara's grin grew into a full smile, reaching her eyes and Lena couldn't help but reciprocate with a smile of her own.

"And I'd like to think you have better taste in TV, Supergirl," Lena quipped, and Kara giggled.

But her laugh morphed into a cough, ribcage racking against Lena's side. The smile slipped off the blonde's face and she sat up, struggling against the sheets she'd tucked around herself. Lena's hand found its way to Kara's spine, rubbing up and down as it lurched, and she tried to fill her lungs.

"You're okay," Lena soothed. She gave Kara some space as perspiration gathered at her hairline, eyes doing their rapid sweep of the room, unable to focus. The hand on Kara's back, reminding the blonde that Lena was still there.

Kara nodded, finally pulling in a full breath and dropping her head onto Lena's shoulder. Her chest quivered with the prior strain to breathe. Jagged exhales blew onto Lena's arm.

Lena turned and kissed the top of Kara's head. "How about a romcom?" She tilted her head to look at the blonde. "Woefully your favorite."

Kara smiled, but it did nothing to clear her eyes or return some color to her face this time. She settled back into Lena's side, her skin warm against the other woman's.

Kara's cheek pressed against the heathered gray of the CEO's shirt—well worn from use and wash cycles. Snuggled beneath her blue fuzzy blanket, sheets, the comforter and sharing in Lena's body heat, Kara's shivering finally ceased. The warmth lulled her eyes closed as the opening score faded into dialogue and Kara fought for her eyes to open again, lids engaged in a cycle of separating then falling together over and over until her head nodded forward and she surrendered to sleep with Lena's hand scratching gently through her hair.

/

She lurched upward, trapped beneath the layers above her. Limbs thrashed against the sheets, against the pervasive heat pressing up against her lungs, suffocating. So heavy, her thoughts turned to mush, sludging around in her brain and joining the pounding, like horse's hooves, against her skull.

A wheezy breath tore through her lungs. Cool air washed over her clammy skin as she loosened the grip of the first blanket, wet with her own sweat. She scrambled upward, not bothering to untuck the other sheets, until she was on top of them and her head reeled with the sudden movement.

Her head fell onto her knees as she rasped for air. A grip tightened around her lungs as the darkness pressed into her vision in spotty blinks of lights.

"Hey…" Lena's soft voice pressed into Kara's consciousness. She vaguely registered the mattress shift, the sheets tugging slightly beneath her. "Hey, hey. You're okay. Drink this," Lena unscrewed the cap on the water bottle at the nightstand and held it out to Kara. "Just breathe, babe. Just breathe."

Under guidance from Lena's steady hand, Kara's fingers curled around the bottle and brought it to her lips. Once she began drinking, the water cool against the raw pain in her throat, she tipped the bottle further. Kept going until it was finished, pausing only to breathe.

"More?" Lena asked, prepared to refill the bottle but Kara shook her head, beginning to tremble again in her damp pajamas.

"Didn't—didn't mean to wake you," she whispered. "Sorry. Just a bad dream. I'm sorry," she said, growing teary-eyed.

"Don't be sorry—Here, change." She offered Kara a new pajama shirt and took the empty water bottle. "What's with all the apologizing anyway, love? I thought we were past that." Lena asked, offering Kara a soft smile when her head emerged through the hole in the new shirt. The Luthor sat on the edge of the mattress, wiped Kara's sticky skin with a cool, wet washcloth.

Kara bit back a groan at how nice the cold water felt against her face and settled for a shrug as an answer to Lena's question.

Lena let the silence hang as she moved the cloth from Kara's forehead to the back of her neck.

"I just feel guilty," Kara murmured.

"For what?"

"Getting in your way and keeping you up like this."

Lena shook her head and took Kara's hands in her own. "I don't mind a single bit, Kara. It's rare that you're ever less than super-human, so just let me take care of you, all right? I can't count all the times you've stayed up with me before. You have nothing to worry about."

Kara just sighed and let Lena help her lie down again, holding her hand the whole time.

/

Kara groaned, turning onto her stomach. She landed on top of her arm and felt the bones inside it jab into the soft spot beneath her ribs but couldn't find the strength to pull it out from under her.

Her eyes parted halfway, pressed against the pillow to hide from the light pouring through the window, assaulting her vision.

She shuffled her legs over the side of the mattress, let her toes press against the floor before trying to heave herself upward. She had her body halfway upright when she wobbled, hand jutting out to steady herself against the nightstand and knocking its contents off the surface.

Her phone clattered against the floor. A patter of three pens followed.

Kara cursed.

She bent to pick them up and a surge of dizziness washed over her, leaving her frame halved as one hand pressed into the mattress and the other gravitated toward her head.

"You okay?"

Lena's voice was trailed by a thrum of footsteps that vibrated through the floor and up to Kara's head.

"Yeah." She frowned at the hoarseness of her voice and the sharp pain as she swallowed, coughing and trying again. "Yeah I'm fine."

The footsteps stopped, and Lena's hand rested on her shoulders. "You sure?"

Kara attempted a small nod, eyes still squeezed closed. "Just got up too fast."

Her teeth chattered, and she wavered in place as she moved off the bed, opening her eyes to see Lena's gentle features pulled in concern.

"Is it late?" Kara asked, squinting in the brightness and wrapping her arms around herself.

Lena nodded. "Almost noon."

Kara's eyes widened. "What about CatCo? What about _you_? You had so much you needed to do today."

With a squeeze to Kara's hands, Lena drew her worried gaze to focus on the woman in front of her. "It's all fine. I called James this morning and told him you were sick, he's going to pass it on to Snapper. And I've been doing some work from home, I went out a little while ago and got you a few things. I'll just have to go in this evening for a couple of meetings."

"Okay," Kara said, the tension seeping out of her form as she leaned into her girlfriend, burying her face into Lena's neck. "You really think I'm sick?"

Lena laughed and threaded a hand through Kara's hair. "Yeah, I do, love."

Kara groaned.

"You know what always helps when I'm not feeling well?"

Kara shook her head, pouting, and her warm lips pressed against Lena's collarbone.

"A nice hot shower."

Kara nodded, letting out a little moan.

"That sound good?"

"So good."

Lena smiled into Kara's hair, pressing a kiss to her head. "You'll be okay in there?"

Kara nodded. "Yeah, I'll be good."

"Just call out if you need anything, I'll be in the living room."

/

Kara shuffled toward the couch, wearing a different pair of flannel pajamas and toting a blanket around her shoulders like a softer, fuzzier version of her Supergirl cape. She plopped beside Lena, her weight sending her crashing into the other woman's side.

"Hey," she said and poked her head up from the blanket. Strands of blonde hair stood up, framing her flushed cheeks.

"Did that help at all?" Lena nudged her laptop to the side and curled her newly freed hand around Kara's shoulder.

Kara nodded, her damp hair pressed into Lena's side but Lena just held her closer.

"Hungry?"

"Little bit."

Lena ran her thumb over Kara's shoulder. "What do you want? I'm going to get you some medicine and water, too, while I'm up."

Kara pursed her lips in thought. "Doughnut."

Lena laughed, rolling her eyes, as she eased Kara from her side and stood up. "Somehow I knew that was coming."

/

Kara crashed three-quarters of the way through her doughnut and at the climax of whichever Harry Potter film she'd choose. Lena tore her gaze away from the finances report on her computer, down to the mass of blonde hair that'd dropped into her lap as Kara's body went limp.

After extracting the remaining doughnut piece from Kara's hand and putting it on a napkin on the coffee table, Lena sprawled a hand across Kara's back, rubbing large circles over her shoulder blades and looking up at the screen to identify the movie as the first film. A soft smile spread across her face, it was Kara's favorite one and they'd probably watched it half a dozen times on that couch.

The movies played in succession as Kara slipped in and out of sleep, murmuring in Kryptonese when her eyes were shut; and staring ahead, snuggling closer to Lena when she woke, declining each offer from the CEO to talk about any of the things that had her twisting and gripping onto Lena's shirt while she slept.

So Lena did what she could, making sure Kara was drinking water, passing her tissues when she needed, helping Kara layer on blankets and then strip them off when she got too hot, and running her hands through Kara's hair to lull the blonde back to sleep.

Kara had been asleep for her longest block since getting up that morning, pushing three hours, when Lena slipped out from beneath her and Kara's eyes slipped open.

"Lena?" she whispered, loose fist raising to press against her throat as she tucked her chin down.

"I'm right here, sweetheart." Lena knelt in front of the couch, her clear eyes searching out Kara's red rimmed, droopy ones. She freed a hand from around her mug of coffee and squeezed Kara's.

Kara blinked again, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"You goin' to work?" Kara murmured, voice muffled by the blanket wrapped up to her nose.

Lena nodded. "I have to get ready and then head over. I've got a meeting with those investors I was talking to yesterday and a run through with some of the scientists in R&D on a few projects they've been working on. So it might be a little while until I get home, unless you need me to stay? I'll cancel if I have to."

Kara shook her head, regretting it as the aftereffects of her shaking heightened the ache in her skull. She set her head back down on the pillow Lena had slipped in to replace her legs when she'd stood. It wasn't nearly as warm or comfortable, but Kara nestled into the coffee colored fabric anyway. It quickly lost its coolness from the heat radiating off Kara's skin. "Go in. I'll be okay. 'M just gonna sleep, anyway."

"Okay." Lena's fingers curled in Kara's hair, running from her temple down the side of her head. "Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

Kara's stomach coiled at the thought of food and she shifted her position. "No, but thanks."

Lena squeezed her shoulder. "I'm just going to change and gather my things, before I check in with you one more time before leaving."

Kara nodded, dragging herself upward into a sitting position and resting her head on the back of the couch. A collection of three blankets had accumulated around her shoulders and she held them close, eyes following Lena as she milled around the apartment, getting ready for work as the sun dipped closer to the horizon.

"All right, babe," Lena said half an hour later. "I've got everything you might need on the coffee table over here, so I'm going to head out. Are you feeling any better at all?" Lena asked and Kara shook her head, pale cheek mushing against the couch cushion.

"Not really." Around her hairline, blonde strands clung to clammy skin and beneath the blanket, she trembled.

Lena stood in front of her, pausing for the first time since she'd gotten up. She gazed at Kara, quiet as she took in her state. Her hand rose to her lip, thumbnail pressing against it. "I hate leaving you. I think I'm just going to call and cancel." Lena turned away from the couch, searching for her phone.

"No, no," Kara protested with a weak, breathy voice, raising her head from the back of the couch.

Lena faced her again, a frown pulling down her lips and turning her green eyes misty. "Kara, I'm worried. I don't want anything to happen to you, I care too much. I would _never_ forgive myself."

"It's probably just a stupid cold," Kara pressed, reaching out and taking Lena's hand. "And I'm just going to be sleeping, honestly. I'll be fine."

Lena bit her lip. "I think you should let Alex know what's going on. I can call, I'm sure she'd come over."

Kara shook her head. "She's on a date right now, I don't want to worry her."

Lena wavered, she'd needed to leave three minutes ago to avoid being late.

"If I'm not feeling better tomorrow, I'll call Alex, okay?"

Lena sighed, casting another glance at her watch then back to Kara. "Okay." She twisted the strap of her bag around her finger.

Kara reached out to stop her fidgeting, holding both of Lena's hands. "It'll be fine."

"I think I'm supposed to be telling you that," Lena laughed, leaning in to kiss Kara's forehead. "I'll see you when I get home but it'll probably be late, so don't try to stay up. And don't hesitate to call if you need anything, at all. I mean it. I love you."

Kara tugged the blanket tighter around her shoulders and slumped into the couch, her eyes already falling closed. "Love you. I'll still be right here on the couch when you get back."

Lena couldn't help but look behind her as she let the door close.

/

It was just past eleven when she eased the apartment door behind her, hoping not to wake Kara. It was just past eleven, when Kara wasn't still on the couch, like she'd said, or in the kitchen, or in the bedroom. And the apartment was dark and moonlight was throwing shadows over the furniture and every sound echoed in the quiet. Lena's voice calling, calling Kara's name. The noise raising from a whisper to shout. A sliver of light from under the bathroom door and whispering in a language Lena had never heard come from a mouth that wasn't Kara's.

Kryptonese scraping against the silence and Lena's fist against the door and the mumbling that wouldn't stop.

It was just past eleven, when Lena shoved the door open. Her heart in her throat and a bruise raising across her knuckle.

A gasp stuck on her lip. Kara's eyes wild, her body jammed in the corner. The back of Kara's head bloodied, then cradled in Lena's hand.

It was just past eleven, when Lena rushed out of the apartment, one hand taking on Kara's shaking, murmuring frame; the other, trembling as she dialed Alex's number.

* * *

 **A/N:** Let me know if you'd rather have Alex be with Maggie or Sam in this fic?

Thanks :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Between your votes here and on AO3, Maggie won, so she's paired with Alex.

As always, thanks for all your enthusiasm. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

The thud of the door closing echoed in Kara's head, she groaned and slumped forward more, so she was folded over herself and pressing her face into a decorative pillow on the couch. She wished she had her powers to follow Lena's heartbeat as it departed from the apartment and headed to L-Corp. Instead, Kara was left with a stale silence interrupted only by footsteps above her and honking cars on the streets, making her headache worse each time the sound reached the couch and clattered inside her brain.

She shoved her face between two cushions, turning into the back of it, with hopes it would alleviate the pressure in her skull threatening to pull her eyes backward or make her sick.

At some point, between listening to her own rattling breath and grimacing each time she swallowed, her eyes closed, and she passed into sleep.

She woke and twisted from her side to her stomach; another time, onto her back with the mass of blankets covering her frame; to her side again; with one pillow then with two; then with no blankets then with one then with all of them.

Every time she closed her eyes, Krypton was there—its buildings contorted and its faces blurry.

She emerged into some half-state of consciousness, some time later, teeth chattering so hard she could hear nothing else, body trembling with so much force every pillow had been knocked to the floor. A thought permeated the muddled lattice of distorted Kryptonian memories ensnaring her brain, a flicker of sense that she should call Alex or Lena or anyone, really, but as soon as it had come, her grip on logic dissolved like salt in hot water. She could not have moved her hand anyway, with the sudden invisible weight pinning her limbs in their position.

Her eyelids were useless against the gravity of fatigue.

With a wheeze of breath and no choice of her own, Kara was yanked back into nightmare.

The next time she confronted consciousness, her eyes bolted apart, and her body jolted forward. She shoved the blankets from her frame and they fell to a heap on the floor; a pile of bodies trapping her feet.

Flame scorched at her skin. Around her Krypton was turning to ash.

Her feet pattered against the hardwood floor, the soles blackened by imaginary soot. A soot she felt filling her lungs, coating the inside of her mouth, saliva thick with it. She couldn't swallow, she couldn't breathe.

A cough hacked at her frame.

She stumbled through the streets, mirages of her dream—a vision of blazing orange and masses of smoke so thick she could not see her own hand in front of her face. The couch groaned against the floor as her body collided with it: a frantic Kryptonian civilian pushing back against her.

Hands gripping at her clothes, flames licking her ankles, swirling up around her body.

She pushed forward, fingers feeling around in the darkness so heavy it was tangible, a weight against her body.

A pod in her home, her parents ushering her inside, tears searing paths down her cheeks. The top slammed closed; she locked the bathroom door.

A breath filled her lungs, the pod's purification system starting with a hum. The tile cool in her apartment against her feet.

The pod rose, hovering in the night air, forcing her forward. It stuttered.

She stumbled.

The pod crashed, falling into a chasm severed into Krypton's surface by the quaking of its core.

Her legs quivered, her body wilting under the weight of sickness. Her eyes rolling backward, her knees buckling, the back of her slamming into the granite bathroom counter, her body collapsing onto itself against the tile.

She whimpered. Falling, falling, falling. The fissure a wrap of blankness but the heat prickling at her skin, suffocating.

Smoke hissed through the cracked window of the pod. Clambering away she closed her eyes.

The wooden towel rack jabbed into her back as she scrambled into the corner on her hands and knees.

Seconds or hours could have passed as she sucked in breath after breath, jammed in the bathroom. A warm liquid moistened her hair, dripped thick down her neck, a droplet drew a crimson trail down her back.

Time was wet. A moving river, a waterfall. A tidal wave bashing her against the shore. A riptide yanking her away. A whirl pool going around and around and around.

Her joints shrieked for her body to uncurl, the pervasive ache throbbing into bursts of pain. She was twelve years old again, calling for her parents, begging to stay, screaming in the Phantom Zone. Praying to Rao to keep the flames at bay as they drew closer. As the ceiling fell. Her limbs paralyzed, her throat raw, her lungs filling and emptying too quickly. Dizzying. Trembling.

Seconds or minutes or hours. Years in the Phantom Zone. She didn't know.

Praying to Rao, flames closing in, whirl pool tossing her around.

Helpless.

Blinded, she couldn't see past the smoke in front of her eyes, her ears picked up a crashing, a cracking. Rocks falling.

Must be.

She felt the tile beneath her fingers, but the quaking of Krypton, too, so real beneath her touch. The dissonance clawed at the fibers of her sanity.

Her muscles tightened to brace herself against another fall that never came.

Instead, there was whispering in a language that made her brows pull, straining to understand the words that were familiar but just beyond her reach.

Instead, a cool, featherlight touch curving around the back of her head, soothing the spikes of pain radiating from the base of her skull.

"Kara?"

Something about the sounds were familiar, the letters strung together.

"Kara?" Jabber followed, jumbles of noises with no meaning. But the first part…

"Kara?" More words, more somethings.

The pitch of noise heightened. "Kara."

Her name.

She tilted her head in the direction, eyes half lidded but vision a muddle of blinking lights and smeared landscape.

The hand lifted, and footsteps retreated.

Kara managed a deep breath, felt her diaphragm raise with it and the oxygen level something inside her.

For a moment, there was no Krypton or Earth. Just the air around her.

An icy sensation juxtaposed the heat of her skin. The soft hand was back, this time with fingers brushing against her cheek.

The smoke around her vision retreated, the swirls of color morphing into a person.

"L—L—Lena?" She rasped.

It sounded right in her head, but Lena's brows knitted, face sinking in concern.

"I'm going to help you up, okay? Let's see if we can get you standing." Lena's gaze darted around Kara's frame, the brunette's lip pulled between her teeth.

"Shit," Lena whispered to herself, Kara wavering on her feet even as she leaned into her girlfriend's side. "This is not good." Her voice a shrill vibration barely passing her lips. "Damn it."

Heat and flame and bolts of white light impeded Kara's vision. Her head felt as though it were cracking open, like the ground beneath her feet.

"Come on, love. _Please,_ I—Please be okay."

A distant electronic beeping slipped into Kara's mind.

Lena's fingers shook as she dialed Alex's number.

/

Kara whimpered.

"Okay… okay. Yes." Lena paused outside her rarely used car and freed her hand by catching the phone between her ear and shoulder. She jammed her thumb against the unlock button on her keys until the low clicking echoed in the night.

In someone's arms Kara's position shifted and the blonde slumped against the car, legs quivering beneath her. She blinked, no recollection of where she was or how she'd gotten there.

"You're okay, Kar, here we go." Someone pulled open the door and tried to steer Kara's body as she crashed into the seat, nearly hitting her head on the metal frame.

"I am. I know. No. No. I don't know." There was that voice again. English. Speaking English, the lilt of an accent. A click as something was strapped over Kara's lap and a clunk as the door closed.

Lena slid into the driver's side and started the car. "I don't know, Alex. I don't—I—I wasn't there. I—Okay I'm leaving now."

Her phone clattered into the cupholder as she dropped it, call finished and fingers struggling to stay steady. She squeezed them open and closed before gripping the steering wheel, knuckles paling, as she pulled out of the parking space and swerved onto the street, tires screeching against the asphalt.

On the street, she sped until traffic gathered at a red light and slammed her foot on the brakes, silently cursing her lack of experience driving in the city and her subpar knowledge of backstreets in the area. She tossed another glance at Kara, letting it linger this time. Kara's eyes were closed, the top of her head pressed against the seat and the bottom part, still bleeding, avoiding contact. One hand hung limp around her waist and the other squeezed into her thigh.

Lena's eyes were drawn to the ice pack, wrapped in a towel in her lap. She uncurled one hand from the wheel and picked it up, nudging Kara's hand at her waist. "Kara, if you can hear me, I need you to try to keep this on the back of your head. It'll help with the pain and staunch some of the bleeding."

Without processing, Kara's fingers stumbled along the pack and held it to her head.

Beside her, Lena let out a breath.

The light turned green.

Lena covered the hand on Kara's thigh with her own, slipping her fingers between Kara's.

She breathed out questions and murmurs of reassurance, but Kara spoke no words other than Kryptonian whispers and could not tear her gaze from the road in front of them.

/

At the DEO, Kara staggered from the support of Lena, and crashed into Alex's arms. The blonde had fallen silent in the parking lot, when a speedbump jerked the car and she hissed in pain, stealing the words from her mouth and failing to return them as Lena rushed out apologizes and ushered them inside.

The slip-on shoes Lena had worked over Kara's sock clad feet squeaked against the pristine floor. Her legs wavered, barely making the two unaided steps between Lena and Alex.

At her sister, Kara murmured, sinking forward; and, with her arms curling loosely around Alex's neck, Kara's eyes rolled back, and she fell limp. As though her body had been waiting to find Alex before letting go.

The coil of worry in Lena's gut launched into her throat. She stepped back, out of the way, felt time spinning around her as Alex's arms strained, lowering Kara to the ground, whispering to her, feeling the heat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

Lena crossed her arms, tucking her hands away to stop herself from reaching out to Kara. The night med team bustled down the hall, a stretcher in tow.

"Luthor, let's go!"

Lena blinked, and the crew was already moving around the far corner, Alex looking back at her as she followed. "I'm talking to you! Come on."

Lena swallowed, mouth feeling dry and full of cotton, nodding as she took a step behind them and ignored the ringing in her ears.

/

IV inserted into a vein. Vitals running across a display screen. Heartrate, temperature, blood pressure. All too high.

Lena nearing Kara's bed, pushed back by Alex's elbow. Blood drawn. Headwound cleaned and wrapped in gauze.

Alex and the other medics whirling in and out of Lena's vision.

"How could you let it get this bad?"

Lena's eyes snapped from Kara to the voice at her side. Alex. Leaving Kara's bed for the first time since they'd arrived.

Lena drew her lip between her teeth. "Excuse me?" She asked quietly for clarification, shoulders crumpling inward as she belatedly processed the question. The accusation woven within its undertone.

"How could you let it get this bad?" Alex repeated, and Lena felt all the warmth drain from her body. A chill settling in her marrow. Alex's words carried an edge. Sharp. Mangling Lena's insides.

The knot of guilt in her stomach tightened, Alex pulling on the string Lena had left dangling, had been twisting with imaginary fingers since she'd stumbled home from work on exhausted feet and found Kara bleeding and slumped on the bathroom floor.

"I—" Lena stammered. The ice in her bloodstream was combated by a flare of heat in her cheeks. "I didn't mean—I didn't know—She—I—" A breath whistled through her tightening lungs.

She'd seen Alex look like that before. Once. On TV, apprehending an alien that'd pummeled Kara in a fight.

"I—Sorry. I'm sorry."

Lena shrunk back as Alex leaned closer. "You should be. Because this one? This one's on you, Luthor."

Lena's hands trembled. She had never felt so small.

"You should have called." Alex turned away, back facing Lena as she finished and busied her hands with the IV in Kara's forearm. "You can wait in the hall until she's stabilized."

Lena swallowed and willed her legs to work, but she couldn't move. Not her feet or her lungs or her lips.

Her eyes were trained to her hands, missing the warning glare Maggie sent in Alex's direction.

A hand settled on Lena's back, warm fingers curling over her shoulder.

Lena looked up and blinked. She hadn't even realized she was there.

"Come on." Maggie tilted her head toward the hall and offered a small smile. "Let's give them some space."

Lena followed the slight pressure of Maggie's hand, her own right palm pressed against her chest over her heart, fingers clawing into the stiff fabric of the dress she'd put on for work hours ago.

"She's right." Lena whispered, eyes fixed on the wreck of shaking hands in her lap, collapsing into the chair Maggie led her to. "I should have—this is my fault. This is all my fault. I should have—"

Maggie slid her fingers over Lena's and gave a soft squeeze. "She's worried about her sister." Maggie's voice was firm and pragmatic. "Okay? She's worried," Maggie continued, the simplicity of her words bashing against Lena's vibrating convolution of emotion, starting to tug it down. "And I'm telling you that not to justify what Alex said, but to help you understand that it's not personal. She doesn't mean it."

Lena's green eyes raised, swimming with unshed tears and Maggie couldn't wait any longer. She wrapped her arms around Lena and pulled her close.

/

Alex's gloved hands pattered against the stainless steal rolling table behind her. She lifted her gaze up to the monitors for the third time in the past minute, checking the stability of Kara's stats once more. The numbers weren't ideal, but they were manageable for the time.

The gloves clung to her skin as Alex peeled them off. Dropping into the biohazard disposal with a swish of the plastic lining.

Alex ran the back of her hand across her forehead and sighed.

She silenced her footsteps as she crossed the room to the bed, curled Kara's palm in her own and felt the heat radiating from her skin. The lump lodged in her throat made it hard to talk, so she stood under the fluorescent lights, lingering scent of antiseptic in the air, with her lips pressed together.

"I was wrong," she breathed out. "I was wrong, Kara, this is _my_ fault."

Her features crumpled, and she bit her lip to stop its trembling. "But I'm going to fix this, okay? I'm going to make you better, I promise." Alex squeezed Kara's hand, kept it tucked in her own as she pressed a kiss to Kara's warm forehead.

"I love you, sis," she whispered, lowering Kara's hand and settling it back beneath the crisp blanket before slipping into the hall and toward the lab.

/

Lena pulled away from Maggie when breathing thrummed into something manageable. After that, she sat, spine straight and eyes trained on the floor in front of her, fingers doing laps around each other.

Maggie remained at her side, offering a soft smile each time Lena's glance flickered her way.

The hall was quiet and the emergence of a footsteps drew both their eyes. A young medic stood in front of them, a tablet tucked in the crook of her elbow.

"Agent Danvers said Supergirl is stabilized, she can have visitors now but she's still unconscious."

Maggie gave her a thanks, then shifted her attention to Lena as the woman turned down the hall. "Want to go see Kara?"

Lena nodded.

At Kara's bedside, she dropped into another plastic chair, curling her fingers around the edges and crossing her legs.

Maggie squeezed her shoulder. "Will you be good in here?"

"Yes. I'm okay." Lena looked up, attempting a smile. "Thank you for waiting with me."

"Of course. I'll see you in a little bit."

/

Maggie let her feet carry her through the twisting corridors.

She walked from the medical wing to the lab without thought of where to turn or which doors to enter; the path engrained in her head by now.

Through a heavy set of metal swinging doors, another hall opened up and Alex came into view, behind a pane of glass, one hand curled around a pencil and the other grasping a test tube.

Maggie watched as Alex lowered the pencil to the lab counter and dropped her head into her free hand. Her shoulders gave a telltale shake, she eased the test tube back into place, and her other hand moved to cover her face.

Maggie slipped through the doors, glancing at the lab techs who were occupied with microscopes in the far corner of the room, clearly leaving a wide breadth between themselves and Alex, giving her space and keeping to themselves with the tasks she'd delegated.

"Hey." Maggie said softly, standing in front of Alex. "I know you're worried, but—"

"I know." Alex rubbed her face and groaned. "I was horrible to Lena. I know I messed up. I'm going to apologize I just—I have to—I don't know what's going on." Alex shrugged, expression still masked by her hands, heel of her palm pressing against her eyelids.

"You're not alone, Al," Maggie said, tucking a strand of hair behind Alex's ear and lowering her touch to Alex's leg, brushing gently with her thumb.

Alex sighed and dropped her hands from her face, wrapping her arms around Maggie's middle in a brief hug.

"Thank you for coming," Alex whispered. "I know you'd rather be sleeping at one in the morning."

Maggie shook her head. "I wanted to be here with you."

With Maggie's warmth enveloping Alex, her hand brushing back and forth over the agent's shoulder blade, her soft voice like honey, a blanket of calm engulfed Alex, allowing her to pull in an easy breath.

Just as she was letting her eyes close, the machine to her left beeped.

Alex sighed and straightened up, running a hand over her face. She glanced over and noted the green light. "I have to get back to this." Alex tilted her head to the test tube, apology written across her features.

"Of course," Maggie said and gave Alex's shoulder a squeeze.

"You should go home and try to get a few more hours of sleep. I know you have work today."

"You sure?"

Alex nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Maggie agreed, giving Alex a quick kiss. "Take care of yourself—Kara and Lena, too, all right? And call me if you need anything. I'll come in after work."

"Okay." Alex nodded again. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

/

Something was draped over her shoulders.

Lena blinked, a twinge in her neck at falling asleep in the unforgiving plastic chair, reluctant to open her eyes in the harsh light. Scratching her skin as she straightened into wakefulness was a standard DEO-issued gray blanket.

"Sorry—I know it's not the best, but you fell asleep and you had goosebumps."

Lena rubbed her right hand across her face, the other still curled around Kara's limp palm. The CEO turned and saw Alex at the end of the bed, thumb running over the blanket covering Kara's shin.

She cleared her throat and dropped her hand, turning so she was facing the chair, "I wanted to apologize for earlier, Lena. I was out of line."

"It's okay," Lena said. Her voice was so soft she barely recognized it. "You were worried and tired and—"

Alex shook her head. "I still shouldn't have said those things to you. They're not true. I feel guilty because this is my fault and I took it out on you. That's not fair, regardless of any excuses."

Alex continued, coming around from the front of the bed. "I mean look at you," she gestured forward and let a small grin flicker across her cheeks, fondness softening her face. "You're exhausted, you're worried, too, you're still in your work clothes and you did everything right. You called me, you got Kara here, you didn't yell… You did good, Lena."

Lena shrugged and felt her cheeks heat up at the praise.

"Can I hug you?" Alex asked.

Lena nodded, tears rising in her eyes again and blanket forgotten as she stood up and felt Alex's arms fold around her shoulders.

"She's going to be okay."

"I know."

Both their voices wilted with the weight of tears pressing up in their throats. With Kara just feet away and fighting internal battles. With the time just four hours past midnight and their eyes heavy.

"Where's Maggie?" Lena sniffled, ducking her head to wipe her eyes as she pulled back.

"She went home. She has to work in the morning and I told her we'd be okay."

Lena nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well, I've been looking at her bloodwork and the infection isn't anything I'm familiar with. I think it's Kryptonian." Alex rubbed at her face, eyes stinging each time she blinked. "So, I was hoping you'd be able to work with Winn to get in contact with Kara's mom? We need to send out a signal."

"I'll do everything I can," Lena said. She smoothed the front of her pencil skirt and looked back at Alex. "Should I start now?"

"Winn doesn't get in until eight, but you can go ahead." Alex sat on the edge of Kara's bed. "I'd encourage you to get a little more sleep, but I think we both know how hard that can be when stuff like this happens."

Lena nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Someone will be with Kara?"

"I'll stay with her. I'm just waiting on some tests to finish processing right now."

"Okay." Her gaze lingered on Kara. "I'll go get started."

"And I'll have one of these rookies stop by with coffee for you." Alex motioned to the groups of newbies filtering through the halls, eager despite the early hour, and shot Lena a small grin.

She managed a smile. "Thank you."

Just as she was turning to leave, Kara's monitored beeped once, twice, then again in rapid succession.

Kara thrashed against the sheets in her attempt to sit up, the room a blur of color smudged across her vision. Fragments of Krypton fighting with the white walls of the DEO med room.

She whimpered, a hand crawling up to her forehead.

In two strides Alex was at her side, settling a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Kara murmured something in Kryptonese, words that Lena didn't know. But Alex shook her head, speaking back to Kara in her language—words choppier than the blonde's had been.

A few more sentences passed between them, Kara's voice raspy and soft and so small as she dropped her head against the knees pulled up to her chest, breathing heavily and balling the sheets in her hand.

"Alex, 's you?" Kara slurred, raising her head and immediately resting her forehead on her palm.

Lena's heart spiked, finally understanding some of Kara's words.

"Yeah, sis." With a gentle hand Alex smoothed back Kara's hair, drawing it away from her clammy skin. "It's me."

"Sorry." Kara squeezed her eyes closed. "I was confused, I—I thought… my mom and Krypton and—" she hiccupped and her breath caught in her throat. "I—it—sorry."

"Hey," Alex said softly, head tilting to the side as she continued drawing her fingers through Kara's hair, soothing against the pressure in her head. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here." Alex kissed her temple. "And look—" she tilted her head to the side where Lena had slunk back, trying to stay out of the way. "Your girl's here, too."

Kara made another attempt at raising her head, slower this time as she arched her neck to see Lena.

The CEO parted her lips to speak, but no words came out. Frozen in place, her muscles tensed up, shoulders knotted. She bit hard on her bottom lip as it started trembling. Tears flooded her eyes and the rest of the room turned to a blur, Kara the only point of clarity in her vision.

And Kara, through her heated skin and red eyes and burning throat and pounding head and aching muscles and churning stomach, brushed some blonde hair off her face with a shaky hand and pulled the sweetest smile across her face as she turned her gaze onto Lena.

One tilt of her head, a blink revealing blue eyes, and Lena burst into tears.

"Oh, Lena…"

With Alex's help, Kara sat up and opened her arms.

Lena fell into them. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." A swell of heat rose in her chest, as Kara's hands came around her, working like the spring sun against a snowcapped mountain range.

"It's okay." Kara's fingers swept through Lena's hair. "It's okay.

Lena pulled back, wiped her eyes with one hand while setting the other on Kara's shoulder. "Sorry. I really just—I really thought… You looked so bad when I found you, Kara. You couldn't even…" she shook her head, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth and trailing off.

"I'm fine," Kara assured her, taking Lena's hand into her own. "Really."

Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes, but the hand easing her sister back toward her pillow betrayed her visage of annoyance. "No, you're not."

"I'm getting there," Kara protested.

Lena smiled down at Kara, the blonde's eyes already sinking closed.

"Get some more rest, Kar," Alex said and pulled the blanket back up around her shivering sister. "We're going to fix this."

"I know." Kara fought against sleep, focusing all her energy on lifting her eyelids open. "I trust you guys."

Alex kissed her temple and held onto Kara's hand.

The brunette looked across the bed at Lena and they shared a nod.

"I'll get to work." Lena gave Kara's leg one last squeeze before she left.

The room was still for a moment, time swirling around the sisters, lethargic and hazy. Kara's breathing wheezed through the air, heat radiating from her skin.

She shifted beneath the stiff sheets, so thin Alex could see the navy of Kara's shirt outlined.

Alex sighed. "Kara, I know you're still awake."

The blonde turned her head toward Alex, trained slivers of blue onto the other woman.

"What's going on?" Alex brushed her thumb over Kara's cheek.

Tears gathered in her eyes. "I'm scared, Alex." Her voice rasped beneath the hum of the machines. A whisper void of its prior joviality. She sounded like twelve-year-old Kara, in the bedroom they'd shared over a decade ago. "Every time I close my eyes I go back. I feel so bad, Alex, and I didn't want to worry you guys but I—it… It's like I'm slipping away."

Alex stole her hand from under the covers and gripped it hard. The plastic chair scraped against the tile floor as Alex stood, the creak of the mattress following as she slid onto the bed and filled the few inches between her sister's shaking, warm frame and the edge.

"Careful," Kara coughed, trying to raise her head but ultimately dropping it back to the pillow. The air whooshed out of it. "You're going to fall."

Alex shook her head and pulled Kara's hand to her chest as she snuggled down. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you."

Kara curled into her side and, with a whistle of a deep breath, closed her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"Al—Al—" Kara slurred, hand emerging from the sheets in search of her sister. Her fingers collided with Alex's side first, pulled back until they were captured in Alex's own hand. "Alex," she whimpered. Her eyes still closed, writhing under the sheets as she had been for the past few hours, murmuring incoherent fragments of words.

"Hey, I'm right here." Alex squeezed Kara's hand and smoothed back her hair.

Though the afternoon sun was blaring into the control center of the DEO, only dim yellow lights lit Kara's room in the med wing. It cast a shadow over her face, easing the transition as she pulled her eyelids open and fought to focus her gaze on Alex.

"What's goin' on? You okay?"

Kara shook her head, teeth chattering, as she tried to look at Alex, fighting the drift of her eyes downward and closed. " 'm hallucinating again, 'cept it's more real this time. 's bad, I—I see my mom. I hear her, feel her stand n—next to me like she's right—right here."

"Oh, Kara." Alex ran her thumb over the back of Kara's hand, along the heated skin covering the ridge of her metacarpals, the slight tremble and weak grip. "You're not…" She shook her head. "Your mom's here."

"She's-?" Kara's arms shook as she tried to lift herself, squinting in the darkness and turning her unfocused gaze back in the direction of her sister. "Huh?"

"Look out there."

Kara followed the line of Alex's outstretched arm, past the room she was in and toward the hall where Alura and Lena were facing each other, scrolling through data on Lena's tablet.

Kara turned back to Alex, brows furrowed and skin damp. "I don't—I don't understand. How?"

Alex smiled and threaded her fingers through Kara's hair. "We did our research and found out you have Argo Fever, so with Lena and Winn's help we were able to contact your mom to see what she knows. She has the antibiotics you need, she's sent a pod to Argo City to get them so we're going to have you feeling better in a little bit."

Alex continued but Kara's gaze was trained on her mom, following her movement as she looked over and, seeing Kara awake, stepped from the hall into the room.

"Mom?" Kara breathed out.

"Oh, Kara." Alura was at Kara's side in a rush, brushing back her hair and pulling her into an embrace. "You've been asleep since I arrived, I was loath to wake you. I know you're not feeling well, my sweet daughter, I'm sorry I was not here."

"It's okay," Kara murmured into Alura's shoulder, unable to get more words past the lump in her throat.

She slumped against her mother, a wheeze exhaling from her lungs as her eyes slipped closed again. A swirl of warmth enveloped her like steam. Kara's fingers entwined behind Alura's back, holding her close as her grip on consciousness loosened and Alura's palm trailed up and down her daughter's back.

Behind Alura, Lena cast a glance at Alex and the older girl nodded, both of them exiting the room to give Kara space and receive the antibiotics as the pod landed on the DEO helicopter pad.

"It hurts, Mom," Kara whispered, voice raspy and muddled as her lip quivered and she buried her face in Alura's hair.

"I know." Alura soothed, pressing a kiss to Kara's forehead. "The same illness spread through our home years ago when you were very young. I remember how painful it was for many, but fortunately, we have a cure now."

Kara nodded. " 'm glad you're here."

"Me too," Alura assured. "Now rest." She helped Kara snuggled back into the sheets, keeping an arm around her waist, thumb brushing back and forth. "I cannot stay for very long, but I wanted to see you and be here when they administered the medication."

Kara managed half a nod before her eyelids sunk closed. "Love you," she murmured, exhaling as Alura repeated the sentiment back and continued her rhythmic strokes across Kara's side.

/

"Kara."

She shifted in the bed, burying her face in the thin pillow as a shiver racked her body. The ache in her head increased tenfold at an attempt to separate her eyelids.

"Kara."

The voice softened and fingers caressed the back of her head.

A groan escaped her lips with the final push into waking.

"Hi," Alex said softly, holding a plastic container in her hand, head tilted toward Kara.

The blonde turned her gaze to the fingers in her hair and found Alura standing at her side.

"We're going to start you on medication, but your mom has to go now, thought you might want to say goodbye."

Kara nodded, still struggling to process as her head swam. Her arms shook in her effort to sit up. The ordeal only lasted a second, before Alex was swooping in with steady heads.

"Easy there."

She lowered Kara back to her pillow and squeezed her shoulder.

Alex stepped back to give Alura space. Lena's frame, hovering on the outskirts of the room, slipped into Kara's peripheral and she vowed to herself, in her waning lucidity, to at least acknowledge Lena before sleep tugged her back away.

"I wish I could stay, Kara, but I'm afraid Argo requires my return."

Kara tore her gaze away from Lena, a stab of pain sparking behind her eyes, and set it as best she could on her mother. "Understand. 'S okay." Her words bled into one another in a slow stream of rattling breath. " ' was good to see you, Mom. Missed you."

Alura bit her lip, tears gathering in her eyes. "I miss you every day, my daughter. I love you."

"Love you, too."

Alura kissed Kara's forehead and lingered, heart heavy, before stepping away from the bedside. The moment disintegrated as Alura departed and the door closed with a thud.

"I'm going to start now, okay, Kara?"

The blonde nodded without opening her eyes. Her hand curled on her shoulder, in the space Alura's fingers had occupied just moments earlier.

Alex swallowed hard and fought through the tightness in her own throat. "According to the files and your mom's information, it'll take a few hours before this starts to kick in. So don't worry if it takes a while for you to feel better, all right?"

The sole response from the blonde was a wheeze of breath as she curled onto her side.

A distant clatter of metal against metal pressed into Kara's head, a rustling, plastic tapping against the bed frame.

She fought back against her closing eyes and focused on Lena's blurry form.

"All good. It's time you start healing," Alex declared and ran a hand over Kara's shoulder. "J'onn called me into a debriefing with a couple of agents, but I'll be back to check on you in a little bit. Tell someone if you need anything and I'll come straight here."

Kara gave another nod and watched as Alex double checked the machines before the door closed behind her.

"Lena," Kara croaked.

Lena straightened in her seat, surprise pulling across her features.

The sheets rumpled beneath Kara as she drew her arm across them, reaching out to Lena and focusing all her energy on wiggling her fingers.

A breath hummed from inside her when the hazy outline of Lena's body crossed the room in a heartbeat.

"Miss you," Kara whispered. "Too far 'way."

Lena entwined her hand with Kara's, raising them upward and kissing the heated skin.

"Don't be scared, Lena. None of this 's your fault."

Lena's head tilted as she looked down at Kara, lips sloping and tears accumulating. The CEO found that no sound could get through her throat. Words sometimes failed when it came to how she felt, but actions hadn't yet.

She hooked her leg on the chair behind her, dragging it closer and drawing a soft, wheezy laugh from Kara. With her free hand she situated it against Kara's bed, keeping their hands tangled the whole time.

It was only once she was sitting close enough she could feel the heat radiating of her girlfriend, that Lena freed her hand and moved it upward to caress Kara's face instead.

"Close enough?" she managed to whisper, leaning in close so the recovery room shrunk to just the two of them.

Kara nodded. "For now." A sloppy grin made light of her pale features and the sheen of sweat across her hairline. Kara turned her cheek into Lena's touch, kissing her palm—lips cracked but pressure still soft. "Just don't let go," she murmured, eyes starting to close again despite her efforts to keep them trained on Lena's green.

Lena ran her other hand through Kara's knotted hair. "Never."

/

"It's so loud. It's so loud. They're so loud." Kara's words spilled from her mouth like hot lava, blanket pulled up to her nose and warm breath beating against the sheets as she writhed in the inferno of her bed. "Help! They need help. Need help," she echoed. "Help."

Lena's head shot off the bed beside Kara's hand, bent over, as she snapped into wakefulness. She blinked in the dark, night having fallen over National City and darkness of the DEO halls matching the lull in activity, save the agony igniting Kara's room.

Lena's gaze immediately settled on Kara's contorted frame, hand thrashing weakly at the sheets.

"Kara… Kara, sweetheart…" Lena ran a hand over Kara's shoulder, repeating her name.

The blonde whimpered. "So hot. 's burning. Burning."

"Kara, wake up, babe, I'm going to help you."

Kara's attempt to turn ended with her flopped on her side but facing Lena.

"Lee?" Kara coughed, eyes still screwed shut and breath still weak.

"It's me, sweetheart, it's me."

The clatter of Kara's chattering teeth melded with the ragged drawl of her breathing.

"I'll be right back, babe," Lena promised, kissing Kara's outstretched hand. "You just hang tight."

The cool moisture of a damp rag against her forehead alerted Kara of Lena's return. A groan slipped from her lips and she leaned into the touch as Lena's other hand rose to cup the back of Kara's head, thumb stroking her hair.

With Lena's help, Kara sat upward while a run of coughs tore at her throat. When the tightness relinquished its grip on her lungs, she curled forward, arm slipping down to clutch her stomach and head falling forward against the knees pulled toward her chest.

Lena's hand followed the curve of her spine, rubbing at her aching muscles. "You're okay," she whispered. "You're okay. It's just a matter of time."

Kara nodded, watery eyes reflecting the dim hallway light as she looked at Lena.

The event repeated itself throughout the night, Kara waking from a tormented sleep, slurring her words and burning up, terrified of falling back asleep.

Alex held her hand in between check-ups and monitoring Kara's stats, silently begging with the universe for Kara's medication to start working.

After the fourth time, Kara found the words to ask for Lena and the brunette climbed into bed with her, slipping an arm around Kara, frame shivering now as she burrowed into Lena's neck and the tension in her lungs deflated with a sigh.

With Lena's hand brushing through her hair, some of the pulsating pain in her head dissipated and she let her eyes fall closed, fever breaking in the night and her sleep finally stretching through the late hours.

/

When the night shift switched with the morning crew, and the rising sun began striping the sky of its darkness, Alex made her way back from the lab to review Kara's improvements.

She eased the door open, but the soft whistle of its closing drew Lena's eyes open.

"Alex," she murmured, rubbing a hand across her forehead as she untangled her arms from Kara and sat up.

"Hey, you can get a few minutes of sleep if you want. You've barely slept at all these past two nights."

Lena shook her head and prompted a dull ache behind her eyes. "It's okay." She stood up slowly, feeling the severity of the past days physically run from her head to her toes in a series of twinges and heaviness.

"All right," Alex said with a nod. "Well I'm just checking to see if Kara's improved enough to send you guys home and let her ride out the rest of this there."

Lena froze, hand stuck over her phone where it'd been positioned to check emails. "I… That—I don't… Are you sure that's the best idea?"

Alex nodded, shuffling through papers and comparing numbers with those on her tablet. "I talked with J'onn and some of the doctors here and we all agree there's not much benefit for her staying at DEO, especially because Kara absolutely hates this med wing. There's no reason in keeping her miserable when all she needs is some time and care to get better."

Lena stomach tightened at the thought of having Kara back in her care, relying on her, when she'd messed it all up in the first place.

"What about monitoring her? In case anything bad happens."

Alex shook her head as she tapped a few buttons on her screen, scrolling downward through a cluster of charts. "She's through the worst of it now, it's really just simple recovery at this point. Of course, I'll talk to her when she wakes up, make sure she feels ready, too. But her stats are looking up and I know Kara, she's going to be elated about this. Usually I could go and keep her company myself, but sometimes she gets frustrated that I'm 'overbearing," Alex rolled her eyes before continuing. "Plus, J'onn needs me here until this evening to finalize some reports. And I figured you two would want some time away from all this together, anyway. You're good with that, right?" Alex's finger swiped at her tablet and the screen went black as she set it down and finally looked up at Lena.

All the CEO could do was manage a nod.

The uncertainty roiled inside her for the rest of the morning, but when Kara woke and the news had her beaming, Lena swallowed her worry and helped a freshly talkative and animated Kara down to the car after Alex ran through the results of her last test.

/

"Here," Lena said, breath warm against Kara as the brunette's arms swept beneath her, rushing to help her girlfriend settle onto to the couch.

"I'm okay." Kara breathed out a laugh and snuggled into the cushions. "I'm not going to break just from sitting onto the couch too hard."

"Can never be too careful," Lena whispered, turning away from Kara to assemble the arsenal of supplies she'd gathered between the DEO and a quick stop on the way home. The TV whirred to life as Kara flicked through the channels and Lena organized Kara's medication.

Kara's gaze followed Lena as her fingers fumbled with bottle caps, trembling around the locked lids.

"Lee-?"

"Shit!"

Water splattered against the floor, a belated thump followed when the uncapped water bottle bounced against the tile.

"Damn it!" Lena said in the middle of the puddle spreading further across the floor. One hand fumbled for something to clean the mess, while the other pushed against her forehead, shoving hair back from her face.

" ' Least it's plastic," Kara offered with the beginnings of a smile, eager to spark one across Lena's face, too. But Lena only swallowed hard and nodded while looking away, shooing off Kara's insistence that she could help clean up the water.

"I'm just going to go grab a towel from the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Lena scampered away and Kara forced her drooping eyes open, rubbing a loose fist against her face. Her phone lay in her lap and vibrated to life with a text from Alex, asking how she was doing, how Lena was doing, too. She freed her hand from the blanket to respond.

Outside the bathroom, Lena turned the handle and a jolt ran through her. She set her jaw, opened the door, stepped inside, and pushed the door closed behind her, back pressed against the frame.

Kara's blood streaked the lower corner of the wall.

Lena's heart seized in her chest.

Her hand dropped away from the hand towel on the counter, fell dangling at her side as a cage tightened around her lungs and her stomach flipped.

She squeezed her eyes closed until bursts of white sparked against her lids, counted to ten, matched her breathing to the numbers, tapped her hand against her thigh.

She opened her eyes and the strip of blood was illuminated by the morning light streaming through the window.

Lena yanked her phone from her back pocket, pounded the numbers.

"Alex, I can't do this."

Her voice whirled breathless over the line into Alex's ear. A sob bubbling up against the tightness in her throat.

"I need—I need you to come over, I'm not—I'm not ready, I'm not— I just, I can't. It's too-"

"Lena." Alex's steady tone was a wall for the wave of Lena's worry to break against. "I need you to slow down and take a breath for me; can you do that?"

Lena bit her lip in a halfhearted attempt to smoother the cry ripping through her throat.

"Just for ten seconds. One deep breath and then we can talk about whatever you want."

"Okay," Lena whispered, eyes tethered to the blood on the wall. The crimson contrasted the cream paint and even as it caused nausea to churn in her stomach, riding on a tsunami of guilt and worry, Lena couldn't tear her gaze away as she forced air into her lungs.

"Good. You okay?"

Lena nodded, head clouded and swimming. "Yes."

"Kara okay?"

"Yes, but—"

"No, Lena, listen," Alex's voice softened impossibly so. "You don't have to add anything to that. Kara's okay and you're doing all right. No need to worry until anything happens."

"But Alex, her blood," Lena choked out. "It's on the wall. In the bathroom. From the… from when she hit her head."

The murmur of the telephone line was the only barrier left against silence. The static stretched for a millennium in Lena's head, her thumb pressed against her lip.

"Lena, listen to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't worry about the blood right now, we can clean that later. That's in the past. Just focus on today. On what you can do for Kara right now."

Lena nodded, twisting the fingers of her free hand.

"Which probably isn't too hard," Alex said, a lightness spilling into her words as a smile flickered across her face. "Kara's pretty easy when she's sick… just needs blankets, and snuggles, and movies, and food, as I'm sure you know." A voice in the background occupied Alex's attention for a moment. "Sorry," she returned. "Maggie just got home and she wants me to tell you she says hi and she loves you and also, she's gonna kick your ass if you're too hard on yourself."

Lena let out a watery laugh and wiped a stray tear off her cheek. " 'kay"

"You're doing just fine. Kara trusts you, J'onn trusts you, Alura trusts you. Lena, _I_ trust you. And if anything goes wrong, just give me a call. It's not going to be your fault."

Lena nodded. "I just—I'm worried I'm going to mess up and hurt her, I don't want to make things worse. I—"

A soft knock sounded against the door before it was pushed open, Kara appearing in the doorway. Her blue blanket trailed over her shoulder, excess fabric spilling from her hand. She leaned against the frame, one arm slung across her waist.

"Hey, come here." She reached out to Lena and the blanket moved with her, spreading like a wing. Lena's bottom lip quivered at the sight of Kara in front of her. The brunette's head ducked as she stepped closer and Kara's arm curved around her.

"I'm gonna let you go, okay? Call if you need anything," Alex said. Her voice barely pressed into Lena's conscious as she nodded and hung up the phone.

"You're doing everything right, Lena," Kara said with a soft laugh as Lena turned into her embrace. "You always do."

"I don't want to let you down again," Lena confessed. Warm breath tickled Kara's collarbone and she rubbed Lena's back.

"Nothing you do could ever let me down." Kara pressed a kiss to Lena's forehead. "Literally nothing. I love you to a fault. Except it's not bad, because you deserve all the love in the whole world and then some, Lena."

The CEO raised her head from Kara's shoulder. Her misty gaze hung onto Kara's and she let a smile overtake the downward tug at the corner of her lips.

"I love you."

Kara grinned, nose scrunching up. She pressed a kiss to Lena's cheek. "I love you, too. Now help me walk 'cause my legs are still a little wobbly."

Lena laughed, threading an arm around Kara's waist and pulling the blonde to her own side. "Of course. You're going to be okay?"

Kara smiled and caught Lena's eye. "With you here? I'll be more than okay."


End file.
